2009 Rogue SL AWD Muffler

[tellus_2009R]

The muffler on our 2009 SL AWD Rogue is bare while every other Rogue we have seen on the road has a black coating on the muffler. Mine also has a brownish rust colour on the stainless steel, which was there almost from day 1. I asked the service manager about the black coating and he said that the black coating was due to under coating they had done ans that it causes an odor and I am lucky that I don't have it. I know someone who has a 2009 Rogue with the coating and he doesn't have any odor from the coating. I intially beleived service manager but I have yet to see a new Rogue without the black coating so I thought I would ask here.

[Nick 568]

Mine has that black coating on it too, and I've never had any odd smells from the car at all. Barely even any when I drove it off the lot either. Maybe for the current lot of vehicles, Nissan stopped coating them? Or perhaps they don't apply the coating for models sold in the southern US states, and you happened to get one of those vehicles? Though, I see you live in Canada, so that'd be pretty unlikely too...

[roadside]

The muffler...is bare ...[and] has a brownish rust color on the stainless steel, which was there almost from day 1

+1

Same here, except mine is a 2009 SL FWD

[philipa_240sx]

Nissan may have swapped suppliers based on availability, price etc. It happens all the time.

BTW, the black paint on my muffler has chipped/flaked away in several places. In some ways it would look better appearance wise if it wasn't painted to begin with.

[roadside]

the black paint on my muffler has chipped/flaked away in several places

Other than that, is there any reason not to paint the muffler? Is there some kind of heat-resistant paint that might fare better than yours?

[Elton Noway]

The muffler on our 2009 SL AWD Rogue is bare while every other Rogue we have seen on the road has a black coating on the muffler. Mine also has a brownish rust colour on the stainless steel, which was there almost from day 1. I asked the service manager about the black coating and he said that the black coating was due to under coating they had done ans that it causes an odor and I am lucky that I don't have it. I know someone who has a 2009 Rogue with the coating and he doesn't have any odor from the coating. I intially beleived service manager but I have yet to see a new Rogue without the black coating so I thought I would ask here.

tellus_2009R Don't know if it will make you feel any better but I have a "bare shiny muffler" as wel...l on my 2009 SL FWD. Personally it's no big deal to me because it's stainless steel. I know stainless steel can rust... (and it does)... but these mufflers (painted or not) will far outlast the old fashion steel mufflers of yesterday.

philipa_240sx mentioned Nissan may have swapped suppliers. I've included a close up shot of my muffler in the event any of you with a painted muffler want to see if they are the same make/model. Actually I'm more inclined to think the black is just undercoating spray and it all depends on the dealership as to whether or not they spray the bottom of their cars.... if for nothing more than a sales tactic (i.e., rust proofing)

[casperfun]

Mine is bare too. I thought of using heat resistant black spray paint on it because I really don't prefer the stainless steel look at the bottom. Would it affect the integrity of the muffler no matter how miniscule it is? Just want to paint the part that shows at the bottom. Thanks ahead for any input out there .

[Elton Noway]

Mine is bare too. I thought of using heat resistant black spray paint on it because I really don't prefer the stainless steel look at the bottom. Would it affect the integrity of the muffler no matter how miniscule it is? Just want to paint the part that shows at the bottom. Thanks ahead for any input out there .

Nope... it won't hurt a thing. Just make sure you use one of the Hi-Temp paints sold in Automotive stores designed for painting engine manifolds. There is also a hi-temp paint designed for painting barbecue grills sold at home improvement and hardware stores. Either one will work.

Also if your car has 1000 miles or more miles on it the muffler has been exposed to various forms of road oils so make sure you clean it thoroughly with good solvent like lacquer thinner or acetone prior to painting or the paint won't stick. The only thing that might look worse than an exposed shiny muffler... is a flaking black one with shiny spots peeking through. You can also use a degreaser, such as denatured alcohol. Acid etching is another possibility for preparing stainless steel to take paint. Acid etch primers use high concentrations of acids to remove an glaze and provide a bonding surface thus allowing the paint to adhere better.

That said... whatever you do.. DO NOT sand or use a wire brush to rough up the surface. What makes stainless steel "stainless" is a chromium oxide passive layer. If this layer is damaged, be it a result of the manufacturing process or by some other means, the exposed metal is able to be attacked and your stainless steel will show signs of rust. Roughing the surface with sandpaper etc., may be tempting but damaging the anticorrosive properties of the steel is too big of a risk for me.

In reality stainless steel is really only more rust resistant than standard iron based materials. Even some of the best stainless steel will show signs of rust if it was ever in contact with mild steel before it was installed. Hammer or iron tool marks on the skin can leave iron deposits. Rust can even come from when the item was slid across a mild steel work bench or from being wire brushed with a normal steel wire brush. When this occurs it's actually the iron deposits on the surface that are rusting rather than the stainless. But... stainless can rust under the right conditions, albeit slowly, so anything you add in the way of protection (i.e. paint) will help slow the process.

[troutster]

My 2010 SL AWD muffler has the discolored look going.

I just looked a little more closely and it seems it is not just a brownish discoloration, but maybe some rust or the beginning of the breakup of the metal, looks rough, etc, not just discolored.

Anyone else seeing this? Should I have them take a look next time the car is in? Warranty item?

[casperfun]

Happening to mine. Personally I believe it is the beginning of rust. Seems to be alot of areas with rust under the Rogue. I just brushed some rust converter down there and resprayed with high temperature black paint. Bam....I'm done. Never liked the silver egg under the bumper. I just retouch with black spray paint every once in awhile.

Also brushed some rust converter on a few tube like structures down there or whatever they were. DIdn't like the orange look, now its black and protected at least on the bottom side as it was hard to brush on the top side of the bars obviously.

Really some rusted inner parts near the brake area but I can't reach them unless I take the tires off which I am too lazy plus I do not want to drip any liquid near that area.

I know some mention rust parts in the past as I think in certain areas it is normal.so I wasn't tpp surprised.